April 19, 2019

Who is helped and who is hurt? Will the Democrats or Donald Trump benefit in the end?

I haven't looked for the various reactions from candidates. Are they stirring up Muellermania or demonstrating thoughtfulness and sobriety?

There's the Muellermania paradox — a highly emotional reaction to the way Trump seems to have been highly emotional. (Have you heard he said "I'm fucked" when he found out they'd appointed the special counsel?!!! That seems like a perfectly normal reaction to me but a lot of people are hyperventilating about how cahraaazzzeeee it is. Are they hyperventilaters mentally sound enough to be trusted?)

I keep on saying - you are listening to a propaganda machine, a weapon of war.It takes whatever throw-weight comes to hand, or it invents something if necessary, and flings it with great force, day after day. There is no point parsing it, or trying to apply reason to it. It is as futile as arguing with an artillery bombardment.

Who is helped and who is hurt? Will the Democrats or Donald Trump benefit in the end?

1) No idea. But the number of people who are paying close attention to this has gotta be small. Most people are glancing at headlines and thinking stuff like: "Wow, Kellyanne & George Conway have a weird marriage." Aside from that, public and personal responses from headline skimming will be confirmatory for either side.

My guess is that most people, who are not political obsessives, or the type who watch formal politics for entertainment, are busy this weekend with Easter or Passover. Even people who don't attend services are busy with Easter bunny planning. If on is religious you're going to services and dying eggs and baking bunny cakes and planning dinners and cleaning for relatives and looking for a Easter basket because the one of the baskets you were going to use for the hunt tomorrow got taken over by mice. (Lesson: Don't put basket passed down from Grandma in storage.) For those with kids: hats off if you have any time to read, much less think about a 400 page report this holiday weekend.

2) Because most normies aren't paying attention, and, frankly, have other things on our plate this weekend, I doubt it will benefit/ hurt/ change the polls for anybody. Any poll movement will be far, far less then 1 percentage point. Maybe point .2%. Public opinion was formed two years ago. It's baked in. Don't expect public opinion to change.

They're scrambling a bit. They need to find the Next Big Thing to disrupt the President, and need it to last a couple of years. They'd prefer it come out of the Mueller report, but surely it's dawning on them that there's nothing there.

I'm guessing in two weeks we have a whole new scandal to get worked up about. One morning you'll turn on CNN and there it will be. They need a couple of weeks to bridge, so expect just a bit more Mueller.

I doubt it will benefit/ hurt/ change the polls for anybody. Any poll movement will be far, far less then 1 percentage point.

I agree with you but with one additional consideration. Democrats are obsessed, the active ones and those in Congress, and they are missing an opportunity to establish an agenda for legislation. I realize that with only one house, they have little chance of passing laws, but they could establish some basic principles, like a realistic way to deal with climate change. I disagree with them on the facts and think the whole thing is a hoax but there are a lot of Democrat voters who think it is real. Those same voters are unlikely to sign on with AOC's Green Nude Eel but they might listen to something sensible.

Sensible does not seem to be on the Democrat Party's schedule this year. I think it will cost them.

The defeat was Labour's worst result since 1918 and led to a turning point in the history of the party, which thereafter gradually moved to the centre under the leadership of Neil Kinnock and then under the leadership of Tony Blair in the 1990s rebranded itself as "New Labour"

Two Dem message bearers on Cable yesterday parroted the talking point that Trump has failed the workers because the deluge of jobs the Trump's policies have created are the $20/hr and not the $35/hr jobs. That what makes him a big failure.

But that is also normal politics. Telling the voters over and over that they should be dis-satisfied.

Buttigeig will emerge as the VP candidate. He is the Deep State's anointed one. They could pair him with Harris for racial balance. But Trump will beat them all. Then Buttigeig is run in 2024.

Media are trying to hurt Trump by repeating the "I'm fucked" line. I suspect they are actually helping him. Trump won thanks to his ability to speak to the working class and come across as an everyday kinda guy who just happens to be super rich. The fact that it is a normal response helps Trump. That media don't get that is remarkable. I know they live in their own bubble - but come on.

"and they are missing an opportunity to establish an agenda for legislation. I realize that with only one house, they have little chance of passing laws, but they could establish some basic principles,"

Yeah I agree but not sure if anyone normal is paying much attention anyway. Certainly not this weekend! Most people don't pay attention between elections. There's no candidate, and ultimately the candidate is the person who defines the message. Randos in the House won't be the message definers once there's a candidate. Once voting starts, attention will turn to the Presidential primaries, then to the convention--which may be contested--then to the general presidential race where the focus will be on the messages of Trump vs. the candidate. To a lesser extent, people will look at the local & state elections in the weeks before Nov. But they won't really tune in until August prior to that November because they will have other stuff to do.

The eventual democratic nominee will need to be anti Trump. And will need to back the idea Trump is unfit to be president to reasons. He should be impeached for obstruction, as shown by the 10 points in the Mueller report. Along with Trump is a racist, sexist, transphobic, gay basket, White Supremacist, anti Semitic, Islamaphobic President, climate denier, anti immigrant, and is mean to other countries. Probably also warmonger and imperialist.

And the reality is a lot of the Democratic base believes this, especially the sjw mob.

Trump will continue to show the democratic candidates are not in the mainstream and out of touch. Trump will continue to troll his enemies, and they will get triggered.

This is starting to feel like 1972. Trump is going to whip the Democrats next year but unlike Nixon, he fights and he will turn the tables on the Left. Bill Barr just might be the guy who actually does lock Hillary ( and the whole Democrat mob) up.

Funny liberals are concerned about the word f**ked. They use that word as standard fare . Take our scholarly elder blogger Ann. Here is a liberal old feminist who uses it with ease and is proud of it to show how far women have "progressed".

For someone who supposedly thought he was fucked by the Special Counsel appointment, President Trump has proved to be fairly resilient. What would help him now is a steady drip-drip-drip of indictments flowing from FISA abuse, etc., leading up to the election. That and a strong economy.

The Left have intensely emotional reactions to almost everything. They constantly blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality. As long as their delusional base remains delusional, leftists politicians will not suffer much on their local stages.

Currently the national stage is less kind to the delusional and emotional Left, but that may be changing.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana: "The Mueller report is a disturbing if not completely surprising collection of evidence that shows a president putting his own interests ahead of the country's.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont : "It is clear that Donald Trump wanted nothing more than to shut down the Mueller investigation. While we have more detail from today's report than before, Congress must continue its investigation into Trump's conduct and any foreign attempts to influence our election.

Since the Mueller standard of “if we aren’t confident that it’s clear that the suspect is innocent, then we can’t exonerate him” was applied to the obstruction of justice issue, then exonerating President Trump (and his team) on the collusion issue means Mueller (and his team) were confident that it was clear that there was no collusion.

Since President Trump always knew there was no collusion, and he is the chief executive, then he has always had a legitimate (not corrupt) reason to limit the resources squandered in pursuing the investigation, has he not?

For someone who supposedly thought he was fucked by the Special Counsel appointment, President Trump has proved to be fairly resilient. What would help him now is a steady drip-drip-drip of indictments flowing from FISA abuse, etc., leading up to the election. That and a strong economy.

To admit that Russian Collusion didn't happen is to admit why Hillary lost the election, i.e. she was an awful candidate who ran a stupid campaign, popular vote notwithstanding. None of the Democrat hopefuls are ready to take that dangerous step.

If I go through a week not exclaiming at least once, "I'm fucked" or "We're fucked", then it hasn't been a normal week for me. If I had a competing business group working with their own 'PR' firm, pay to have a foreign company create a file on me showing that I paid to have hookers pee on me in hotel rooms while I readily handed off our company secrets to those we compete against, then proceed to have articles placed in industry trade journals and postings on Linkedin to further the narrative that I'll hand over company secrets willingly if peed on by hookers, then spend two years watching as all of my so-called friends and allies joined those I typically compete against, pointing me out at trade shows and refusing to meet or dine with me in public or private- I'd probably say 'I'm fucked. And my job is fucked.'

I think Trump's reaction was fairly subdued considering the high treason played against him. I would love to see a tar and feather incident when those involved have a light shined on them.

On BBC radio yesterday they were interviewing a Dem operative regarding Mueller report. She was droning on about how the report proved Russia interfered in the election. I was very surprised when the interviewer cut her off with "that is to be expected" Russia , the US, even my country regularly try to influence other countries elections. Was surprised to hear the leftists at BBC dispute the narrative.

Once you know the bottom line — that the Russia stuff was bullshit — then Trump’s reactions to the investigation are justified. I’m surprised Trump didn’t fire Mueller. Knowing what we all know now, it would have been justified.

Don McGahn is the one who pushed Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was his guy.

I’d like to hear what McGahn thinks of Trump now. Maybe McGahn finally learned something about life. He was incredibly naive. So was Kavanaugh. They were both lucky Trump wasn’t.

Wouldn't it be interesting to properly investigate Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch for public corruption and obstruction of justice?If I were Trump, I would pardon presidents Clinton and Obama so they could not hide behind the Fifth Amendment.

They could be punished for testifying falsely about their behavior and held in contempt if they refused a grand jury subpoena.

People are taking him literally again with that statement. That's usually a mistake.

Trump is sarcastic all the time. Even if the note-taker was in the room when he allegedly said it, she may have missed the way it was said, yet accurately quoted the words. Of course he didnt want a special counsel, but he knew there was no collusion, so I dont believe he literally thought his presidency was ruined or that he was fucked.

"here on CNN was this huge desk on the set (must've cost them a fortune) and behind it, there was a human centipede, 8 or 9 commentators, all relentlessly bashing Trump, eating and regurgitating each other's crap talking points."

The media may have thought it was a catchy chyron or headline. It matters not to people like Conway, and certainly not to me. I don’t expect that the Office of Special Counsel cares. I don’t think the US Attorneys in New York and DC care. They don’t care about any “f” word. They care about criminal investigations. There may be 12 of them ongoing right now.

Also, not talking about yesterday's big event is the smartest thing I have seen a Democrat candidate for president actually do in the last day. I don't think it is the smartest thing that could be done, but Gillibrand's is the best so far for which I have evidence. Buttuvwxyz and Sanders both have done the dumb thing- doubling down on stupid.

"It's up to you and the Althouses of America: will you abet the plotters and the hysterics or have you finally had enough?"|It's a fair point. Where are all these "normal" Democrats. The radicals blow up the towers, and half the moderates exchange Happy Faces and the other half do nothing.

If you see someone doing something wrong and you don't correct them, you are just as guilty as they are - Ethics of the the United States Marine Corps.

When President said, "I'm fucked," he goes on to say a bit more which no Democrat bothers to quote. They want their captive minds to conclude I'm fucked means Mueller's going to expose my dastardly plan, which further implies that since Mueller did not expose Trump's dastardly plan, Mueller himself is corrupt, ergo the report is a tissue of lies, etc. Basically, the flat-earth all-purpose denial.

Any disproof of the notion that our planet is flat is rejected as part of the world-wide conspiracy of the CIA, the KGB, the Illuminati, and everyone with universally recognized credentials in the physical sciences to deceive people into rejecting the Revealed Truth. As more and greater detailed evidence against the flat-earth belief system accumulates the alleged conspiracy grows larger and larger, wider and wider, ever more ruthless as ever more people connected with air travel, telecommunications, surveying, engineering, etc. must be brought into the conspiracy or be silenced.

The Democrats are plotting just such a course. Look for more accusations of corruption as Mueller and his team of lawyers and investigators are savaged for their participation in what the Democrats will continue to rave about insanely.

This is historic. There have been many political parties in our past. The Republican Party is one of the youngest, while the Democratic Party dates from the dissolution of the Whig Party by Andrew Jackson. The Whigs are gone. Few Americans today could give an accurate account of them or what their foundational doctrines were. This will be the case with the Democrats.

Pecan Pie Detective on loan from the Pastry Squad, ready to volunteer for the secret prosecutions.

Dumbass Chuck- the sealed stuff is pretty much all going to be of people that will never stand trial. As most will understand, almost all of the redacted material related to the IRA and GRU charges of which practically none will ever see the inside of a courtroom. However, if you actually read the report, even those sections are heavily unredacted whenever discussing the involvement of the US based targets of the investigation- in other words, the report couldn't have been clearer- no US citizen was colluding/conspiring with any Russians- at all.

However, continue to delude yourself- you are truly comedy gold, Chuck. You might yet find that store bought pie in the steaming heap of shit that was the Russian Investigation.

In a local court, a defendant was found not guilty of robbery, because the prosecution had failed to show evidence of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.. The jury added, "if we had confidence that the defendant clearly did not commit robbery, we would so state." The judge nodded sagely and let the defendant go.

Bob: "Just imagine what Hillary said when Bill fessed up about his "inappropriate relationship" with "that woman". Might even have made Lyndon blush."

Just imagine what Hillary said as she was physically assaulting John Podesta the night in November of 2016 LLR Chuck experienced an existential crisis due to Republicans sweeping the White House, Senate and House, a "disaster" in LLR-left world.

I have not read the report. But everything that people screech about, like Trump's remark you quote, is perfectly consistent with an annoyed man who knows this is bullshit that will be used to hamstring his presidency.

I will read a few people I trust who will read the whole report. Greenwald is one of those. I don’t like his politics. I do like his integrity, his attention to detail, and his concern for evidence. I hope AA reads it, but if I were she I wouldn’t.

There is evidence that cuts sharply against obstruction. The president could have shut down the investigation at any time, but he didn’t. He could have asserted executive privilege to deny the special counsel access to key White House witnesses, such as McGahn. To the contrary, numerous witnesses were made available voluntarily (there was no need to try to subpoena them to the grand jury), and well over a million documents were disclosed, including voluminous notes of meetings between the president and his White House counsel.

Most important, the special counsel found that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and that the president’s frustration wasn’t over fear of guilt — the typical motivation for obstruction — but that the investigation was undermining his ability to govern the country. The existence of such a motive is a strong counter to evidence of a corrupt intent, critical because corrupt intent must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in an obstruction case.

In his report, Mueller didn’t resolve the issue. If he had been satisfied that there was no obstruction crime, he said, he would have so found. He claimed he wasn’t satisfied. Yet he was also not convinced that there was sufficient proof to charge. Therefore, he made no decision, leaving it to Attorney General William Barr to find that there was no obstruction.

This is unbecoming behavior for a prosecutor and an outrageous shifting of the burden of proof.

Have you heard he said "I'm fucked" when he found out they'd appointed the special counsel?!!!

I've heard that Mueller says that Trump said that. And apparently the whole "report" is like that -- containing not so much raw evidence, much less established proven fact, as the Mueller team's prosecutorial narrative and characterization of things.

NOTHING in the report has been put to the proof. People should quit treating it as if it is a conclusive judgment.

2) Because most normies aren't paying attention, and, frankly, have other things on our plate this weekend, I doubt it will benefit/ hurt/ change the polls for anybody. Any poll movement will be far, far less then 1 percentage point. Maybe point .2%. Public opinion was formed two years ago. It's baked in. Don't expect public opinion to change.

If the SCOTUS makes a ruling on dirty words...Can Trump copywrite "I'm Fucked" to use as a catchphrase? "You're Fired!" is old and worn out. Maybe like a Nixonian Laugh-IN sock it to me cameo. But this would be on CNN....Trump could pop out of some little door in the backdrop behind Anderson Cooper and with a big smile say "I'm Fucked" cue laughtrack. cue Anderson Cooper reaction smirk, Ba-da-dum-badumpt-dumpt!

Chuck is a pussy. He’s got a photo of George Conway over his bed in his mom’s basement.

Chuck cried when Candy Crowley gave Mitt the back of the hand during her debate. Obama just watched. Mitt just took it like the coward he is. Chuck feels so helpless. Like George Conway and Mitt Romney.

Chuck hates Trump because Trump doesn’t take it. Like Chuck. And George Conway. And Mitt Romney.

screen grabbed part of these comments on twitter/Full disclosure:some Online stuff I love is Twitter and Althouse, and I found myself in a twitter conversation with a random fellow about the week's news, he accused me of being misled by evil news media, and ventured the name "Breitbart", which made me reply with a screen grab of my GoTo newssources, here is a link to that tweet.https://twitter.com/Ertist/status/1119249042863562753

I am happy the image included 2 of my favorite folks to seek out on replies, BleachBit and Buwaya, and wanted to "disclose" it even though it is a little sidecar conversation -- just one of those little exchanges one-on-one w a stranger that happen on twitter, ah america.

all you guys, pictured or no, help me clarify my understandings daily, Salud.

McCullough: "Chuck cried when Candy Crowley gave Mitt the back of the hand during her debate."

Actually, Mitts complete and immediate surrender to Crowley in front of a global audience which helped cement a demicrat victory clearly qualifies as one of LLR Chuck's proudest moments as a "republican"...(wink wink)

Clearly hes a witch, otherwise he would have drowned https://www.google.com/amp/s/legalinsurrection.com/2019/04/george-mason-u-law-school-brett-kavanaugh-will-not-be-fired-despite-leftist-activist-demands/amp/

We continue to operate under the impression that these people are just like us, the flip side of our coin. That they would behave the way we would if we were in their shoes.

But the proof we are wrong is right here in front of us, lab rats in the form of Chuck and Inga. For 2 years they have hyperventilated at phantoms. And yesterday came the report that those phantoms never existed. Have they changed their behavior in light of this information?

No, they simply pretend it says what they always suspected, a feat of Alter Reality that shocks us with it's audacity and complete lack of self-awareness and shame.

So when you ask if the Hyperventilating Candidates can be trusted, I answer: what difference does it make? In 6 months they will be pretending they never said Trump is an Shape-shifting Reptilian, and all of their Chucks and Ingas will brainwash themselves into believing WE are the loons for thinking the Hyperventilating Candidates said Trump is a Shape-shifting Reptilian.

That's what 90% of these liberal comments on FB and WaPo are about - they aren't arguing to convince us, they are crafting an alternate reality to brainwash themselves. If they post it, they bring life to their fantasy narrative and, for all intents and purposes, make it real. For them.

The Left will believe whatever their candidates tell them to believe. We have always been at war with EastAsia. Because Orange Man bad.

Trump is a serial liar.The Democrats are liars.The Democrats believe Russia-gate is their ticket to winning 2020.The media is in collusion with the Democrats since 1968.Pure capitalism doesn't work because 'losers' will want to overthrow it constantly.The Extinction Rebellion movement is gaining huge support amongst young people.Most Westerners are 'ok' with LGBT stuff.

That's what 90% of these liberal comments on FB and WaPo are about - they aren't arguing to convince us, they are crafting an alternate reality to brainwash themselves. If they post it, they bring life to their fantasy narrative and, for all intents and purposes, make it real. For them.

Quite so.

With leftists it is always about the narrative. That is why they dominate in Hollywood. It's not about dealing with reality, it's about creating the reality they want. Once created, they believe it.

How many leftists believe that Brett Kavanugh ran a rape gang in high school?How many believe that he raped CBF? Or that Clarence Thomas assaulted Anita Hill?How many believe that Trump is an FSB operative?How many believe that the Earth will not exist in 12 years unless we give them total control?How many believe ...

Oh and the Democrats will run a million investigations on Trump from now until Nov 2020. I think Barr should name a special prosecutor to investigate the FBI's initial Russia investigation. The Senate should start a million investigations simultaneously. Fight fire with fire.

I will continue to contend that the Dems just keep digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole for 2020. Once the dust settles on the Mueller report the fact that there is nothing there will become clear to the regular folk. I have not read the report and won't. Given the reporting so far the "revelations" will have a short shelf life.

The Dems in the House absolutely refuse to address any issues of importance to the American people. In the meantime Trump has won the domestic economic battle; it appears that there will be a bilateral China trade agreement in the near future; Trump - and the idiots who continue to send caravans to the border - have convinced a majority of the voters that there IS a crisis on the border and Trump is the only person willing to address it; etc.; etc. While the Dem presidential candidates continue to sprinkle fairy dust around. I will go out on a limb and bet that Joe Biden can not win the Dem nomination given the current state of the party's leftward stampede. Look how Cortez was able to win in Queens and I think we may see more primaries like hers.

Incidentally, Chuck seems to be able to withstand the truth of the Mueller report but Inga, who for two years has been predicting the Gotterdammerung that would result from the Mueller report has been strangely quiet - even as the MSM and DNC crazily spin all kinds of fantasies for her to cut and paste.

@Mockturtle I agree with you. If the Congress critters were at all responsible they would have been dealing with this as well as immigration. Better to leave it as campaign fodder than help the American people. I imagine Trump saw the Dem ads too in 2018

A lot of the GOPe are pushing a 'moderate' Dem for President. They seem to think they lost the House because of Trump. They've read it wrong from the get-go. As I've posted before, I'd prefer to see a Socialist like Bernie get the nomination and have an all-out debate on the realities of Socialism. I wonder how the media conglomerates would like a Socialist government? Do they think they would be spared when the SHTF just because they've been so liberal?

They were rooting (some voting) for "Moderate" Hillary in 2016, so I'm not shocked. No Doubt National Review and Mitt Romney will be "Conflicted" if Biden or Harris gets elected. Weld is now running against Trump in the Primaries, and he's Mitt's Best Friend forever.

Cruz could not be more conservative than Trump has been. I moved to Cruz after Walker dropped out. I voted for Cruz in the primaries. But I could not be more pleased with Trump's policies.

And there's no telling what Brennan and Clapper had on Cruz. Or whether Cruz could have endured the slings and arrows Trump brushes aside so easily. And Cruz is a great senator who would make a great VP.

The Dems will pay dearly for the fuss they're making over the Special Council Report. Some people on the Hill are starting to realize it. http://www.kotcb.com/2019/03/the-trojan-equus-africanus-asinus-pinata.html

"The only way to fight propaganda is with an equal and opposite propaganda."

Such a thing, measuring and responding equally to what people could, potentially, define as "propaganda," isn't within any realistic realm of possibility, without an altogether silly level of precision to result in an accuracy with zero predictive possibilities. And the idea propaganda always works in every scenario unless met with an equal opposite isn't reality.

Who do you think you are with this shit?

My propaganda has overwhelmed yours here at the Althouse blog, for example.

@RealSaavedra 23h23 hours agoMoreMedia reports Trump said he was "f--ked," cuts out remainder of quote: "Everyone tells me that if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me"

Quaestor said..."When President said, "I'm fucked," he goes on to say a bit more which no Democrat bothers to quote..."

The bit more:

“Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

From the Mueller report, the full context:

'According to notes written by Hunt, when Sessions told the President that a Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.” The President became angry and lambasted the Attorney General for his decision to recuse from the investigation, stating, “How could you let this happen, Jeff?” The President said the position of Attorney General was his most important appointment and that Sessions had “let [him) down,” contrasting him to Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy. Sessions recalled that the President said to him, “you were supposed to protect me,” or words to that effect. The President returned to the consequences of the appointment and said, “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”'

A perfectly reasonable position to take for a president alleged to have dementia.

99% of GOP politicos would have just given up after saying "I'm fu*ked" ... Trump simply went back to work on tax cuts, deregulation and judges ... and put his nose to the grindstone and made sure he would not go down over this phony investigation ... some will say he just got lucky ...

funny, but Trump seems to get lucky ALOT ...

as Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister of France once said,"the question to ask of a general is not, “Est-il habile?” Is he skillful? but “Est-il heureux?” Is he lucky?"